Introduction
The Directors believe that the business has a number of competitive strengths and attributes that differentiate Dr. Martens from its competitors and position it to succeed in the current environment and adapt to a rapidly changing world.
OUR Competitive strengths
Dr. Martens is a truly iconic British brand with over 60 years of heritage. Our timeless boots are cultural icons, offering enduring appeal, durability and cult status that surpass fashion and trends. The brand has become a global icon with millions of consumers worldwide and displayed in collections of cultural institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and MOMA.
The brand’s spirit of rebelliousness and resilience is embraced across all cultures, ages, genders and social classes, who adopt the Dr. Martens boots in their own individual style. The most iconic product, the 1460 boot, is immediately recognisable with Dr. Martens’ distinctive features: trademark yellow welt stitch, grooved sole and black and yellow heel loop. The unique DNA of the 1460 is preserved in the 1461 shoe and in the rest of the Originals products, sits at the core of the product strategy and informs the aesthetics for all other footwear categories.
57%
of revenue from sales of Originals
Dr. Martens appeals to a broad consumer base while retaining a distinctive identity. While the marketing strategy is influenced by alternative consumers who have their own individual style with a proud sense of “self-expression” at the core, the brand resonates with and is worn by a much broader audience of wearers who want to express their individual style. This is reflected in the balanced demographic mix of consumers across all metrics, including gender, age, income level and geographic region.
60+
years of heritage
Dr. Martens’ major focus has been growing the brand through direct-to-consumer channels which enable control of brand engagement with consumers and represent the best environment to showcase the brand.
Driving the direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) acceleration is the Group’s ecommerce channel, which offers consumers access to an extended product range as well as being a strong point of sale and enhancing profit margins. The ecommerce platform is complemented by its retail channel, comprising 135 directly operated retail stores at 31 March 2021, primarily located in key cities globally. These stores act as profitable brand beacons, allow us to create an exciting shopping experience and directly control the storytelling, merchandising and presentation of products.
43%
of revenue from direct-to-consumer channels
Dr. Martens has built an integrated and diversified global supply chain and significantly invested in our IT infrastructure, allowing us to scale sustainably across geographies and channels. Its footwear is mainly manufactured at third party factories in Asia, with the business continuing to produce its “Made in England” range at Dr. Martens’ original manufacturing site in Wollaston.
A programme of changes across the Global Supply Chain function in recent years has made it more modern, flexible and sophisticated to support the growth of the business. The business has also de-risked its supply chain by diversifying both the supplier and factory base outside of China, as well as establishing a detailed bottom-up supply chain cost efficiency programme. The business has been able to continually scale production capacity to meet volume growth.
14%
growth in pairs
Our successful strategy has led to profits growing at a faster rate than sales in recent years. Increasing the proportion of revenue coming through our DTC channels is beneficial to margins, and enable us to directly control the consumer relationship.
Dr. Martens has shown broad-based growth across all channels and geographies. In the period from FY17 to FY21 ecommerce, wholesale and retail channel revenues grew at a CAGR of 49%, 5% and 20% respectively, while the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions grew revenue at a CAGR of 24%, 23% and 15% respectively. The business also has strong cash flow conversion, reflecting a capital-efficient growth model.
15%
revenue growth
Led by Kenny Wilson, the dedicated management team has extensive experience gained from working with other leading global brands. The team is highly focused on building organisational capabilities and providing a culture for success. Dr. Martens believes that its management philosophy PxWxR: Priorities x Who x Relationships is a critical enabler of success. The whole organisation is aligned behind the notion that we are custodians for the brand, and this drives long-term decision making and the overarching desire to do the right thing.
60+
combined years of experience of Executive Directors
